A post I did several years ago now titled HVAC System Rules of Thumb is visited fairly frequently based on the blog statistics I have access to. So, I thought I would share some news I recently learned with regard to the book I mention on the post, HVAC Data, Equations and Rules of thumb.

Portability; The original book is several inches thick and adds a lot of weight to your suitcase if you want to have it with out out in the field and you have to travel to get there. This is a big plus for me.

Searchability; Since the document is electronic, you can search for a topic of interest by entering key works, making it easier to find something.

Cost: The price for the Kindle version is less than the price for the new, paperback or hard cover versions.

Storage Space: Since I already had the paper copy, this is not as much of a benefit for me. And, while I think there are advantages to hard copies of books that we may never duplicate with our e-readers, for reference books like this, the electronic copy really is all I need or want. Our house and my office are not particularly large, so having this electronically frees up shelf space for other books I would prefer to have in hard copy.

Sustainability: Since the book was not printed, then my guess is the resources required to produce it are minimized, probably less than what it would take to print a paper copy and transport it to me (and along with me when I took it places). That doesn’t mean that electronic copies of things are resource free. For one thing, you need a computer, which is a collection of some pretty exotic materials fabricated using some pretty exotic and energy intensive processes. And the computer needs power, as do the server farms that support the various data “clouds” out there were electronic books might reside. So, there still is an impact on the environment and planet. But I’m guessing its less than there would be for a paper copy. (I suspect folks are looking into that and I will have to research it see what they have found out.)

So, at this point, you are probably thinking “that’s great, but what if I don’t have a Kindle?” I found out some good news there too. Amazon has developed applications that support Kindle books on a number of other electronic devices, including a computer. Here is what Kindle for PC looks like on my machine.

And here is what the HVAC equations book looks like when I open it up.

Kathy gave me a Kindle Fire for my birthday (very nice and much more than a e-reader), and near as I can tell, all of the features I have looking at the book on it are available to me when I look at the book in the PC application.

So there you have it, an electronic option for a very useful book, and just in time for holiday giving.

2 Responses to HVAC Equations and Rules of Thumb on you Kindle

David,
Thanks for the great site and information. I like your above article but have quick question, will the kindle or any other “pad” handle any other engineering programs? My work computer can’t run any unauthorized programs. These unfortunately include the software used to set up our data loggers, and other minor engineering programs so…can the kindle handle this type of software, and do you think it would be a practical field device for diagnosing HVAC problems?

Sorry for the tardy response; things got a bit busy on me all of a sudden. Plus I have been working on a post about other (engineering related) things I have discovered I can do with my Kindle but have not quite finished it. I keep thinking I will get it out there and then get side tracked. Hopefully in the next couple of days.

That said, while the Kindle is great for e-books and .pdf type stuff, it is not set up to run software like, for instance, Hoboware or Boxcar pro, which is what you need to interface to Onset loggers (I use them a lot).

Kathy (my bride) has an IPad, and it has more capabilities that way, but also is an Apple product vs. a product running Windows type stuff, so I suspect things would not run their either. Others may be able to respond with more info than I have currently in that regard.

I think for the IT world, engineers might be a bit of an “odd lot” in that we run all of these funny applications that seem like the devil incarnate to an IT person. But, as one of our principles pointed out to one of our IT folks after a firewall setting was preventing us from sharing some info he really needed, if the folks doing the core bussiness of the company can not be productive and the company folds as a result, then the IT folks will not have a job. So, it is desirable for everyone to find some common ground.

But, having had our credit cards hacked into twice in the past four months, I can appreciate the IT folks concern about things that they see as a potential security violation.